


Let You Pick Up the Pieces

by KoiKoiFish



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Depression, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, Leon and Raihan are good supportive boyfriends, Leon has some toxic fans yo, M/M, Raihan secretly hates himself, References to Depression, Soft Boys, Some headcanons to their young years, Sorry if it's less british than all the other fanfictions, pls bear with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:07:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22216762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoiKoiFish/pseuds/KoiKoiFish
Summary: Everything around Raihan seemed to be falling apart - First Leon, then his public image and finally himself.  While he could help fix the first two, he just didn't seem to be capable of fixing himself.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 9
Kudos: 229





	1. Leon in Peril

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my Girlfriend who was always there to pick up my pieces when I broke down. Love you! <3

Leon wasn't sure what made him throw the Pokeball at the clearly enraged and dangerous Eternatus. Did he underestimate how strong the pokemon was? Did he want to show off in front of his brother and the Gym Challenge finalist? Or was it just an unconscious decision he made because he had to act quick and simply panicked? Probably the latter, seeing as his hand trembled when he threw it.

Either way, he knew he messed up the moment the pokeball hit the creature and it wiggled around inside it to break free. Leon's heart beat up to his ears, his heartbeat thumping a rhythm inside of his head as he counted the times the pokeball jerked around.  
  
 _One..._  
  
“You did it, bro! You really are Galar's Champion, you can just do anything, can't you?”, Hop shouted in excitement, taking a step forward.  
 _  
Two..._

The champion raised his hand, motioning Hop to quiet down and stand back. Leon remained standing in his position, just ten meters before the two teens. His eyes widened as the third movement of the ball never came and he yelled out to his trusted pokemon companion.  
  
“Charizard, protect them!”  
  
Luckily, his Charizard trusted him with everything and understood him completely, shielding the two teenagers with his spread wings just in time as a blinding light enveloped both Eternatus and Leon, the pokeball shattering and both parts whizzing by right next to the three that remained standing.  
  
Hop's eyes widened as he couldn't see his brother for a moment and he rushed past Charizard, ignoring the huff that the pokemon made. He just wanted to know if his brother was okay. He needed to see his brother _breathing_ at the very least, he knew he couldn't hope for much more than that with how big the explosion seemed to be.  
  
He saw his brother's lifeless form lay on the ground, barely twenty centimeters away from the ledge of the roof they stood on. Thank Arceus he wasn't completely blown off the roof, that would no doubt be a death sentence.  
  
“Lee, can you hear me!?”, Hop yelled, kneeling down next to his brother and taking his limp palm between his own. There was a faint pulse that he could still feel and he couldn't help the tears of relief that spilled from his eyes. Leon was still alive.  
  
Hop looked back up to where Victor had stood just a moment ago, to see him prepare for battle and he knew he couldn't let his friend fight that thing alone. His eyes shifted back down to look at his brother. He also didn't want to leave Leon just laying there...What should he do?  
  
 _Tap...tap..._

Hop turned around at the footsteps behind his back, seeing Charizard stand there and huff at him proudly, as if to tell him to get up and fight, to let him handle Leon.  
  
“You're right. He's your trainer after all...I leave him to you then, mate!”  
  
Even though Hop's voice trembled, he knew he had to help Victor out, or else it wouldn't be just his brother in danger, but the whole Galar region instead. He rushed ahead to face off against the enraged creature, leaving Charizard behind to look after his brother, not paying enough attention to Charizard's condition in his rush.

Charizard leaned down to his trainer and gently picked him up, cradling the limp body in his arms and keeping Leon warm with his body heat. The pokemon let out a sad whine when his trainer not only didn't move, but was battered and bloody all over.

While Charizard himself wasn't in much better of a shape with his HP left at only a sliver, he still knew what to do. He went down the stairs to the first floor of the Hammerlocke Gym, hoping to find the Gym Leader there. It would have been faster to just fly down and enter from the main gate, but the pokemon didn't trust himself to fly while being on the verge of whiting out.  
  
With heavy steps the two of them reached bottom floor and Charizard looked around, searching for the all-too-familiar dragon leader, but he was nowhere to be found. Not just that, but there was no sign of any human life here since the city has been evacuated. Charizard let out a loud cry of frustration and pain. He wasn't ready to give up, but he knew that he didn't have much strength left and he knew that he wouldn't be able to carry Leon to the hospital that was all the way back in Wyndon.  
  
So, with the last power that he had left, he set Leon back to the ground and curled around his trainer in a protective stance. This would keep Leon warm and prevent him from being attacked out of nowhere, at least.  
  
With no other way of helping his trainer- no, his friend – Charizard laid there and let out pitiful whimpers, listening to Leon's breath as it slowly died down.

* * *

  
  
Raihan cursed under his breath. Who cared about a safe evacuation route for others when Leon was in danger? He didn't see a point in him being here when all the assistants of his gym were already on the case. The only thing he was here for was to coordinate his assistants, but they had rehearsed the scenario so often due to Chairman Rose insisting they do, Raihan's presence was kind of obsolete.  
  
He couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that something was wrong, that he had to run, to help Leon somehow...but in all honesty, he felt like his presence wasn't needed there either. He saw the two kids run inside and both of them have beat him in record time, so if they couldn't help Leon, what could _he_ do, really?  
  
His false sense of bravado online was nothing but a facade to how helpless he really felt. Helpless against Leon, helpless as a Gym Leader, helpless as a human being.  
  
He looked at the last people leaving the city in a daze. His assistants have done a really great job as he stood there and just _watched_ it happen.  
  
“What should we do next, Raihan? The city is now empty save for us and the three fighting on the rooftop.”, Sebastian asked, ready for more instructions.  
  
Raihan snapped out of his thoughts and gave his best attempt at a reassuring smile. “You guys did great. Get out of here as well, I don't want you to get hurt if things go south. I will go check on the others and see how they are doing. Knowing Leon though, he is just about to catch that damn thing.”  
  
His assistant laughed and nodded, handing him the first-aid kit that they had around in case someone got injured during the evacuation. “Alright. Let's hope you don't need this, but please take this with you, there are potions and revives for pokemon, I'm sure that the three will appreciate their team looking tip-top!”  
  
Raihan was about to say that he didn't need the kit, that he had some potions and revives of his own, but the feeling in his gut just got worse, so he took the kit and hurried back towards the gym without saying anything else. Something primal screamed at him to just run, run, _run_ towards the gym as fast as his legs would carry him. As he got closer, about halfway to the gym, he heard a distressed Charizard cry... The cry of _Leon's_ Charizard...  
  
His heart sank and he kept on running, his steps sounding more like roaring thunder or a wild animal charging at their prey, which startled the pokemon that laid in a protective coil around his trainer. Charizard let out an attempt at a dangerous growl, sounding feeble and broken. He just barely managed to lift his head to see who had just entered the room, only to perk up at the sight of Raihan hurrying towards them.  
  
The dragon trainer opened the first-aid kit and used a Full Restore on Charizard so that the pokemon could get up again and he could take a look at Leon's ailments.

Only as Charizard let go of Leon did Raihan see the extent of the man's injuries. His cheek was scraped open, his champion uniform torn and tattered in many places, revealing deep cuts that went in a criss-cross pattern all along his body, mostly his forearms, which he no doubt used to block whatever had injured him from killing him instantly.  
  
Raihan grit his teeth and reached for his pokeballs, but hesitated. Out of all the pokemon in his team, only Flygon could fly, but there was no way it would fit both of them onto its back with how slim its back was. He looked up at Charizard who gave him an affirmative nod and lowered his neck to allow both men to get onto his back.  
  
“Thanks buddy.”, the taller of the two trainers said, and smiled a little.  
  
The dragon Gym Leader effortlessly lifted Leon onto the pokemon's back, when he realized that Leon's beautiful long hair was sticking together in clumps and crusty with blood that had started to dry. He grit his teeth in frustration as he got onto Charizard's back and held Leon firmly in his arms. How could he allow this to happen? This was _his_ gym, it should be his responsibility to see that nobody got hurt, especially not to an extent of being life-threatening...and especially not Leon. He failed again. He was truly hopeless.  
  
Raihan was glad that Charizard knew where they were heading next, otherwise the pokemon would surely question the way Raihan's voice shook when it was usually so full of confidence and optimism.  
  
During the flight Raihan made sure to lean closer to Leon, checking both for pulse and for breathing by pressing up against his neck.  
  
“Just a little more, Lee. Hold on just a little longer, I know you can do it, Champ.”, he whispered like a chant as they approached Wyndon city.  
  
Honestly, he was unsure whether he wanted to reassure himself, Charizard or to try and call Leon back to consciousness. Probably the former, if his tense body posture and chattering teeth were anything to judge by. He wasn't feeling cold even though they were high in the air and flying fast, but Raihan was absolutely petrified of losing Leon. For the first time in his life, Raihan was actually terrified of something.  
  
And he was _helpless_ against it.  
  
Raihan jumped off of Charizard as soon as the pokemon landed in front of the clinic, picking Leon up bridal style and rushing into the hospital.  
  
The receptionist jumped up at the all-too-familiar sight of the champion and squealed in horror as she saw the state he was in.  
  
“Oh merciful Arceus! What happened to him?”, she rambled.  
  
She seemed young so Raihan couldn't really hold it against her to be so excited, but he also couldn't help but get mad. There was no time for idle chit-chat, Leon needed help and he needed it quick.  
  
He just couldn't help the emotions bursting out of him... “It doesn't matter what the hell happened, just fix him! He's _dying_ for crying out loud!”, he yelled, gathering the attention of everyone in the room, a few freelance journalists becoming awfully eager to hear more.  
  
Raihan was getting more and more aggravated. Negative press is the last thing Leon needed right now. So, Raihan decided to put himself at the center of attention right after paramedics rushed in and took Leon away on a stretcher. Some people tried to follow the medics. Avid fans, journalists, and even some people that despised Leon. But Raihan didn't let them, standing in front of the door that the medics disappeared through.

His hoodie was splattered with blood due to holding Leon so close, his eyes seemed to glow under the shadow that the bandanna was casting and he made a point of baring his sharp canines like he did during battles. He looked like a feral animal ready to attack at any second.  
  
“Nobody will pass unless they beat me in a battle.”, he announced, seeing Charizard being cut off by a mass of people that wanted to get past the doors to the ICU. “Now let my buddy Charizard pass and then scram, you _really_ wouldn't want to obstruct hospital business, if you catch my drift.”  
  
Not when Raihan was absolutely ready to hospitalize every single one of the people standing here. His heart burned with so much rage, his body shaking as the fire of wrath overshadowed his absolute terror at losing his friend. He did all he can for Leon and he had no other choice but to wait now. And waiting was a great catalyst for the anger that he carried within him.  
  
Anger at the people that stood here, trying to get a glimpse of the 'Fallen Champion', anger at Chairman Rose for making Leon suffer like that because of his stupid plan...  
  
And most importantly, anger at himself for letting this happen.  
  
He should have gone with his gut feeling in the first place, let his assistants handle the evacuation, run to the top of the gym and save Leon...but he didn't. And he couldn't use the excuse that he wasn't good enough for that, because he didn't even try. He, a grown man, abandoned the person he cherished the most while literal _children_ rose up to the challenge and fought the beast.  
  
“Anyone here willing to challenge me? If not, stop loitering around here.”, Raihan hissed a final warning.  
  
As expected, the people started muttering among themselves about Raihan's behavior and the journalists got out their notepads and started writing eagerly. No doubt there will be a ton of articles about Raihan the next morning, but right now the Gym Leader didn't care. He simply spun on his heel and went straight through the doors that the doctors just disappeared through, certain that nobody was dumb enough to follow him. He looked around, unsure of where to go with so many rooms on the floor. Well... he should probably simply wait in the hallway, huh?  
  
He sat down on one of the chairs and Charizard followed him, standing next to the chair Raihan sat on. It was very quiet and awkward just sitting and doing nothing and usually Raihan would simply check his social media feeds, but right now he was sure they were all getting flooded with posts about either Leon's hospitalization or Raihan's outburst and he was not keen on seeing either of them at the moment.  
  
He looked up at Charizard, who noticed the gaze on him and looked down on Raihan quizzically.

“So...uh...I'm sure you're not used to following anyone but Leon around. So thanks for sticking with me.”, the trainer tried his best to start up a conversation, but his voice wavered again. Every time he saw Charizard he had to think of Leon's signature pose and it honestly stung, like needles piercing his heart. “Sorry. Hopefully you can return to his side soon.”  
  
 _Sorry I couldn't protect him_.  
  
The words got stuck in Raihan's throat and his lips quivered, tears prickling his eyes and just waiting to fall. He felt absolutely miserable, just sitting here, uncertain of Leon's location, of his condition.... He couldn't do anything once again.  
  
Raihan looked down at his shoes to avoid facing Charizard as he suppressed his tears. That was when he felt a gentle but firm pat on top of his head and turned his gaze to realize that the pokemon was resting his snout on top of his head, and reassuringly cooing at him.  
  
“Hah. You're every bit as selfless as your trainer, huh? Thanks for cheering me up buddy. I know that this is hard for you too.”, Raihan said with a feeble smile, straightening his posture again to pet Charizard, returning the consoling gesture. He could at least try and give emotional support to _someone_ , right?  
  
It was actually quite pleasant to just sit and pet Charizard in silence, especially given how delightfully warm the pokemon was. Raihan started to realize why Leon cherished his partner pokemon so much, there was barely any pokemon more befitting of Leon. Both of them were warm, loyal, strong, majestic and kind. And while Raihan still preferred his own pokemon due to the deep connection he formed with all of them over the years, he knew that if he ever had a chance to have another pokemon with him, Charizard would very likely be his pick. Screw him not being a dragon type, the scientists probably just assessed him wrong.  
  
These meaningless thoughts and the distracting feeling of warmth were quite nice, but of course they were soon interrupted by the doctors wheeling Leon out of the treatment room and to a room where he would presumably be staying until he recovered. Raihan had never gotten up quicker in his life. He followed the doctors inside the room, watching them attach a heart rate and respiratory monitor to Leon, hooking up an IV to his arm and setting up the breathing machine. The dragon Gym Leader couldn't help but notice the huge bruise on Leon's chest as the doctors attached the sensors to his chest to observe his heart rate.  
  
Only after all that was done did the doctors turn to Raihan and Charizard.  
  
“Will he be okay?”, the Gym Leader asked, relieved to see a nod from the doctor, but what followed after made Raihan frown again.  
  
“Most likely he will. I can't say that with a 100% certainty, but if he wakes up within two days, it should be a smooth recovery from there. If not, we will need to discuss further proceedings with his relatives, since keeping a person alive with machines is quite costly.”, the doctor said and continued explaining before Raihan could get irritated. “You see, the cuts and the hemorrhaging aren't really the problem. That will heal over time, no matter what. However, it seems that he was hit quite hard in the chest area. We found a bruising of the lung, which explains the irregular and weak breathing. We will have him on the breathing machine until he wakes up, which hopefully will help his lungs recover. We don't know yet when he will wake up exactly, so the IV will keep giving him the most important nutrients. We will come and check up on him every day, but for now all that we can do is wait.”  
  
Raihan had to sit down again to process all of that. “Thanks for your work.”, he said in a feeble voice.  
  
The responsible thing to do now would be to fly to Hammerlocke and see that the kids were safe and didn't suffer the same fate. But Raihan couldn't move a muscle, completely paralyzed by the news. Lung bruising was no joke, and the doctor didn't even say how severe it was. Though, if the doctors were ready to throw in the towel after two days, it had to be pretty bad.  
  
The blue eyes were fixated on the monitor, watching the lines rise and fall, sometimes flat-lining for a moment before they picked up again as Leon inhaled sharply. Raihan felt so helpless once again. It was always the same, he was always just watching, feeling like a bystander in his own life. Watching Leon become the champion back when they were kids, watching Leon win against him time and time again, watching several Gym Challengers win against him and earn the right to advance to the semi-finals. Just watching everything happen like an idiot. Both Leon and Hop were the exact opposite of him. They acted quickly and did everything in their power - and apparently also beyond their power – just to help others.  
  
“You're really the toughest person I know, Leon.”, he muttered into the silence of the room, pulling at his bandanna to cover his eyes for a second. The warmth of the hair accessory actually helped him contain the tears that threatened to spill again.  
  
Since when had he become this pathetic? He had sworn himself that he would be strong for Leon, to be someone that Leon could entrust anything to. He had to get it together if he wanted to actually _be there_ for Leon when he woke up. He would wake up for sure...Raihan just had to wait.  
  
He let go of the bandanna, letting it fall around his neck. A few strands of hair fell out of the ponytail into his face, but Raihan didn't care to fix that, his gaze completely fixated on the bedridden man. He was determined he would watch over Leon together with Charizard, protecting him and encouraging him to wake up quicker.  
  
Then again, it was probably good that Leon wasn't awake. No doubt his whole body ached incredibly and Raihan didn't want Leon to suffer. So, he simply sat there and watched. He watched Leon's face, scanning it for any signs of discomfort, he watched his chest move up and down underneath the blankets, watched the monitor create the patterns as it measured the shorter male's vitals. And so minutes ticked by, then hours.  
  
Charizard had already curled up in a corner, sleeping soundly. A nurse came by to measure Leon's blood pressure and politely offered Raihan to leave, but the man refused. He would stay until Leon recovered. The Hammerlocke Gym Leader wouldn't be needed seeing as the season is over, so Raihan decided his time was better spent here with Leon.  
  
He finally dared to check the social media apps he was on and it wasn't as bad as he expected, since most people were talking about Hop and Victor taking down Eternatus and deemed them Galar's heroes. So, Raihan was right after all, those kids were actually able to do anything, especially when the two of them worked together. But even they couldn't prevent Leon's injury. Though, Raihan doubted that Leon would even allow them to try. It was no secret how protective Leon was over his brother, even going as far as to be stubborn as he was asked to allow Hop to join the Gym Challenge.  
  
Raihan chuckled a little and turned off his phone screen again, sending Rotom to rest on the table he sat next to. He should get some sleep as well, he told himself. But he just couldn't fall asleep between the sharp inhales that Leon took and the monitor beeping a warning every time Leon's breathing stopped for a few seconds, the breathing machine whirring to life and supplying what Leon's injured lung couldn't provide.  
  
It was no wonder that by the time Hop came to visit with their mother the next day, Raihan looked absolutely terrible. It was evening again by the time Hop arrived in Wyndon, bringing his mother in a flying taxi all the way from Postwick. By that time Raihan still hadn't slept for even a minute, dark rings starting to form under his eyes. His hair was still mostly in a ponytail, but some of it framed his face despite the undercut.  
  
“Yo, it's the hero of Galar!”, he joked, giving Hop a lopsided, tired grin. “You did great kiddo. I would have come help you, but I kinda short-circuited the moment I saw Lee unconscious, hope it wasn't too tough on you?”  
  
“Well, Lee had already defeated it once, so I think it was weakened. No worries, I'm glad you helped my brother instead of Victor and I.”, Hop said, looking at his brother. His smile fell again and he pursed his lips. “So, how's he faring?”  
  
Raihan looked at Hop and then at his mother and shook his head. “Not gonna lie to you. The doctors said that if he won't wake up in 24 hours, there was little prospect of recovery.”  
  
Hop nodded. “Thanks for being frank with me.” The teen swallowed a lump in his throat. “And thank you so much for rushing him into the hospital and keeping the people away, it really means a lot.”

So the people _did_ talk about Raihan's outburst after all, huh? The Gym Leader was glad that he didn't check his phone right after the incident.

Hop then looked to Charizard curled up in a corner and shook his head. “I'm sorry you were ordered to protect us, I'm sure you'd rather protect Lee.”

The dragon trainer was sure that it was the case as well. Charizard was really fond of Leon and no doubt felt bad that he didn't protect Leon, but Raihan knew that the pokemon was absolutely loyal to Leon and would never disobey his orders, no matter what.  
  
Raihan stood up and ruffled Hop's hair. “Hey, kiddo. Leon would be sad hearing you talk like that. I'm sure that he is simply happy no harm came to you. If this would be you in this hospital bed right now, no doubt he would blame himself for it. So don't worry. You already saved Galar, you shouldn't push yourself too hard, okay?”  
  
 _I know how you feel.  
_   
“Let's just all believe in Leon's recovery and greet him with a smile when he wakes up!”, the Gym Leader said with a reassuring nod despite his heart twisting and turning in pain.  
  
 _I wish I could trade places with him, he doesn't deserve to suffer.  
  
_ “I will keep watch over here and contact you when he wakes up, okay?”, Raihan offered, which finally seemed to cheer Hop up. And not a second too soon, Raihan wasn't sure how long he could keep up the tough act.  
  
Hop nodded and his lips curved up into a small smile. “Alright, thanks. You know, you always were my favorite Gym Leader with how you can always keep so cool, no matter the circumstances.”  
  
“Thanks, kid. Now go and rest up!”, Raihan said and saw Hop and his mother out. After he went back inside, he could still hear the two talking behind the closed door.  
  
 _“He looked pretty bad himself, don't you think?”  
  
“Should we notify the doctors? I doubt he ate anything either.”  
  
_ Well, they weren't wrong. But he couldn't stomach anything either. So, he just sat back down in his chair and continued watching, waiting, hoping for Leon to wake up. He had fallen into a dreamless sleep somewhere in the middle of the night just to be awoken by people talking in the room. He immediately shot up from his chair since nobody should be here at night. Immediately he regretted getting up so quickly as his world spun around and he felt something strain in his arm. He looked to the side and saw an IV connect to his arm. He then realized that it was bright outside and looked up at the clock that read 7 am.  
  
“Did I--”, he stuttered out, only to have the nurse huff and confirm his suspicions.  
  
“Yes. You passed out. Seriously...you're lucky Champion Leon's brother warned us about you not eating, drinking or sleeping and when you passed out the Charizard went to get help. You were out cold for six whole hours, we were debating on getting you a separate bed and...”, the nurse sighed, finally calming down. “I'm glad you are awake though. Aren't you glad too, Champion Leon?”

Champion Leon? Was that a cruel joke? Was the nurse just teasing him?  
  
“Yeah.”, the voice from the bed croaked hoarsely in response, making Raihan jump up again.  
  
Raihan's gaze went straight to meet Leon's and he could feel himself tearing up all over again. He hurried towards the bed, ignoring everything else. Neither the dizziness, nor the pain in his arm from the IV, nor the yell of the nurse could stop him from running up to Leon's bed and looking him up and down like he had never seen Leon ever before.  
  
“Leon, I'd hug you, but I think that would hurt your chest..”, Raihan said, still ignoring the nurse who then gave up and simply moved the IV and Raihan's chair next to Leon's bed before leaving the two alone.  
  
The purple-haired male laughed a little, wincing as even that hurt him. “Yeah, better to be safe than sorry.”  
  
“Well..”, Raihan rested his head on his palm, the guilt bubbling up in his chest again and spilling out his lips before he could stop it. “I still have to say sorry. I'm sorry I didn't come with you, Leon. This could have been avoided if we just worked together.”  
  
Leon looked at him with wide eyes, not believing what he just heard his best friend say. “What are you talking about? Do you _honestly_ think this is your fault?”  
  
Leon's gaze wasn't met by the icy blue eyes of Raihan, the dragon Gym leader simply looked aside, his gaze narrow and his eyebrows drawn up like he was in physical pain after saying that. The taller male's breathing hitched as he was clearly holding back _something_ . Tears, a painful scream, more words that made him look absolutely broken. That wasn't how Raihan usually was, Leon has never seen his friend be so utterly broken and lost. How long has Raihan been hiding this side from him? Leon's eyebrows furrowed, a crease appearing between them and his lips formed a thin line as he pursed them.  
  
“Raihan. Look at me.”, he said in a more demanding tone. When Raihan finally did, Leon continued, treading carefully as to not hurt him more by saying the wrong thing. “Do you _really_ believe that? You had a task to perform, you couldn't just abandon a town full of people just to come help me...”

“I could. And I should have.”, Raihan said with a shaky sigh, burying his face in his hands and gripping at the strands of hair that hung down the side of his face in frustration. “You are the person that matters the most to me, Leon. If I had lost you, I...”  
  
And then it happened, Raihan was finally unable to keep his tears in any longer. He let tears freely roll down his cheeks, shaking his head vigorously as Leon tried to reach out to him. “I love you Leon. I love you so damn much, I don't even know what to do without you. I couldn't do anything while you were unconscious, I wasn't myself. It's so terrifying to think of a life without you, so when I see that the 'task' I have been entrusted in is handled absolutely fine by other people, of course I would feel like I should have helped you instead. I feel so useless, I didn't do anything, not for the town of Hammerlocke, nor for Galar, nor for you.”, he hiccuped, remembering the lifeless form he saw Charizard holding. “I was just so scared as I saw you, Leon, I...”, he hiccuped again, trying to wipe away his tears as more and more kept coming. “..I thought it was all over.”  
  
“Raihan...”, Leon cooed gently, calling Raihan's attention back to himself. “If you say that you are to blame for my situation, then I have something to confess as well. I know now that all this time I have been simply playing straight into Rose's hands. I have accepted all the tasks I have been given as champion, I let him distract me from his actual plan by obeying orders. Even as I refused going along with his plan, he had calculated it. After all, he knew that if I saw a pokemon wreak havoc, I would weaken it and attempt to catch it.”, he paused to let it all sink in to Raihan's head.

Rose should have known that he couldn't do that alone, he should have known that there were two heroes in the legend. And yet he still wanted him to go down that path, knowingly dooming him to failure. But not just that, Leon knew that he messed up as well, he knew that when he realized that he had thrown the wrong ball at the creature after enraging it.  
  
“So...you failed and...?”, Raihan asked carefully, his voice timid and uncertain.  
  
Leon frowned and winced, this time not from the pain in his chest, but from the memory making him cringe. “I threw a pokeball, Raihan.”

“Yeah, so? That's what is required to catch stuff, even a grade schooler knows that by now.”, the Gym Leader raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
  
Leon shook his head, inhaling shakily, his body trembling all over. “No, Rai. I mean it. I threw a pokeball. Not a Great Ball, not an Ultra Ball. I panicked, my head was blank when I knew I was standing next to the thing that could kill the entire Galar Region and I- I just couldn't-” The heart rate monitor beeped in alarm as Leon's pulse skyrocketed, his breathing also becoming more erratic as he stumbled over his words. “I couldn't--”  
  
Shit, this wasn't good. Raihan stood up and gently cradled Leon in his arms, pushing him gently to the side of the bed so he could crawl into it as well to hold him closer. “Shh, Leon. You did well, don't blame yourself, okay? Your brother defeated the pokemon together with Victor thanks to you weakening it beforehand, so there is nothing for you to worry about.”, he reassured the best he could, stroking Leon's hair gently due to the injury Leon had sustained on his head. He knew that he had to stay strong for Leon, he shouldn't have let his emotions get the better of him when Leon was suffering. What happened to 'greeting Leon with a smile', huh? “Please just take your time and recover.”  
  
“I can't exactly take my time when the championship is still ongoing. I owe Victor a battle for saving Galar in my stead. It should have been my responsibility and yet he did that for me.”, Leon said with a sigh, leaning his head on Raihan's chest in defeat. He felt really exhausted all of the sudden. Still, despite that he continued. “I should ask the doctor if it's okay for me to leave tomorrow.”

“Like hell you will.”, Raihan hissed, looking straight at Leon, his gaze pinning him into place before it softened again. “Look, Leon. I know you are putting literally everything and everyone above yourself, but you need to realize that if you really think you owe Victor a _fair_ fight, you have to be in tip-top shape. Otherwise he would be playing on easy mode, where you barely have the mental capacity to call an attack because you are too focused on the pain in your chest.” Charizard gave a huff in approval, causing Raihan to smile. “See, my new buddy Charizard thinks so too. So if you are having such a hard time thinking about your health for your own good, think about it for others. At the very least for me, okay?”  
  
Leon nodded with a smile, happy that Charizard and Raihan seemed to get along. Then his smile fell again and he blushed all of the sudden as his brain caught up with the information he had been provided. “Oh.”  
  
“Oh?”, the taller male echoed, wondering if something happened.  
  
“I just realized you confessed your love to me.”, Leon said, a pink blush gently dusting over his cheeks and ears.  
  
Raihan looked at the man incredulously. How air-headed could someone be? Well, that was also a part of Leon's charm. “That was like ten minutes ago.”  
  
“Yeah...guess I'm still not fully awake?”, Leon offered as an explanation, abashed by his slow reaction.  
  
“Let's go back to sleep then.”, Raihan suggested, holding the Champion close by the waist so he wouldn't hurt him. “Unless you are uncomfortable like this. Should I move back to the chair?”  
  
“Wait, you don't want an answer to your confession?”, Leon asked, tilting his head to be able to look at Raihan again, but it was quite hard to do in this position with all the cables restricting his movement, so he gave it up again.  
  
“Only when you're fully awake, Sleeping Beauty.”, he teased his friend, gingerly playing with the purple locks of hair. Leon blushed an even darker shade of red, but didn't reply, closing his eyes instead. Raihan followed suit, finally allowing himself to fall asleep for real, knowing that Leon was safe and that nobody could harm him when they laid like this.  
  
Nurses came by, very quietly observing the two sleeping men and taking notes of their vitals before leaving again. Some nurses couldn't help themselves and took pictures of the cute scene, with Leon resting on Raihan's chest while the Gym Leader held him gently by the waist, the other hand being caught in Leon's hair.  
  
While the two slept, this image spread like wildfire on the internet, but for once Raihan didn't care what happened online. He was simply glad he could feel Leon's warmth, hear his breathing, feel him shift around a little in his sleep. When he woke up next time, it was already evening, the warm orange sunset creeping through the window and making Leon's skin glow beautifully. It seemed that the Champion was still sleeping soundly, his long eyelashes resting against his cheeks and his face completely relaxed.  
  
This was truly a blissful moment that Raihan knew he would treasure forever, even if it completely wrecked his natural daily routine to sleep through the entire day.  
  
He looked up as the door to the room swung open, the nurse bringing in two trays with dinner. She was followed by someone who no doubt would be mad at Raihan. After all, the nurse brought along Hop and Victor, who seemed like they wanted to visit.  
  
Raihan said that he would contact Hop when Leon was awake, didn't he? Well, in all technicality, Leon was still asleep now, so maybe he could get away with that as his reason. He stared at Hop as he racked his brain for something intelligent to say as a greeting. An apology? Or should he act like he didn't _just_ remember his promise?  
  
“Don't worry, mate, I'm not mad or anything. You were so tired, I figured you were bound to forget it.”, Hop provided before Raihan could even say anything.  
  
The dragon Gym Leader wanted to protest that he didn't forget it, but he let it slide. Instead he pondered something entirely different. “How did you know when to come here?”  
  
“Well, the 24 hours you told me about are over, so whether Lee woke up or not, I had to be there to tell the doctors to keep the machines running since that is what mum wanted. I wasn't sure if I could do that alone, but thankfully Victor offered to come along and support me.”, Hop said, smiling a little. “As we sat in the train though, I came across an image of you two cuddled up like this, so I figured that Lee was fine.”

Raihan blinked in confusion, his heart sinking and his body feeling cold all of the sudden. “Hold up..An image is making its rounds on the internet? Who put it up?”  
  
He was panicking. Now Leon's reputation was really ruined and it was all because he gave in to his feelings again. Who put up that picture? What did the press say? Knowing the journalists, there were gossip articles all over the internet by now.  
  
“Rotom, come here buddy.”, he called softly, his phone flying over to him and floating close enough so he could look up the image that Hop was talking about. Luckily he didn't have to look hard since he was tagged in it on social media about a hundred times.

**RaiFan039:  
** You think they're dating? Noooo~ My precious Rai!  
  
 **Anonymous:**

Idc bout the context, I ship it yo.  
  
 **ChampionTime:**

Wow. Taking advantage of him while he's down? Disgusting. Poor Leon.  
  
There were more comments of a similar caliber, all either fans being upset that they were apparently an item, professionals being angry that they were 'messing around' despite how clearly both of them were hooked to IVs and Leon being covered in bandages all over. There was someone however that kept spamming the same message, though it was unclear who it was since the username was hidden.  
  
 _“I hate you for this, Raihan. You lost the finals and now you're being so lax about this? You're useless. I hope you die, Hammerlocke is overdue for a new Gym Leader anyway.”  
  
“Die.” _

“ _Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.”  
  
_ Well, someone was overexcited. And they were clearly eager to get Raihan to see it, tagging his Pokegram username every single comment. Whether that was a Leon Stan or simply one of the many people that hated Raihan, they took it way too seriously. But there was one more reason for him to not sleep anymore now. Everyone knew that they were in the Wyndon Hospital's Rehabilitation wing. So if it wasn't just a twelve-year old kid typing angrily on his phone, it was best for Raihan to watch out.  
  
“Raihan?”, Hop asked, seeing how serious the dragon trainer looked. “Are you okay?”  
  
The blue eyes moved away from the screen and looked at Hop, those big golden eyes looking just like his brother's, wide and glimmering with worry. “Don't worry about it, kid.”, he said and looked over to Victor who stood there with a thoughtful frown on his face, like ha has figured something out. Victor wasn't a man of many words, but he wasn't stupid and was extremely good at reading people.  
  
“Don't bother with the comments. I read them and reported them to the Pokegram staff.”, Victor finally said after a minute of intense eye contact, as if that was all the time it took him to read Raihan's mind.  
  
Hop pulled out his phone and scrolled down past the picture to read the comments and see what that was all about. “Whoa...that's really bad. Shouldn't we report this to the police?”  
  
“The police can't do anything about it. The username is hidden and phones that aren't Rotom phones are hard to track. Besides, it could just be me being paranoid over some kid's online prank.”, Raihan said and shook his head. “Just forget about it. I wouldn't want Leon to worry, so let's drop the topic.”  
  
Victor nodded, but the dragon gym leader knew that the boy wasn't done yet. He looked like he was completely absorbed in his thoughts, as if trying to figure out a solution to that all by himself. It was funny how much both kids resembled Leon in their own ways.  
  
Speaking of which, the champion stirred awake and groaned in discomfort, opening one eye to see who the voices he was hearing all this time belonged to. He was excited to see his brother and tried to sit up, only to let out a pitiful whine and sink back down onto Raihan's chest.  
  
“Here, champ. Relax against me and I will help you sit up.”, Raihan offered, waiting for Leon to sink his whole weight on him before he sat up, pushing Leon into an upward position without him having to strain his muscles. “Hop, would you hand me the dinner that the nurse so kindly brought?”  
  
Hop was quick to comply, setting the tray down so it rested on his brother's thighs, allowing Raihan to reach it no problem.  
  
Leon was meanwhile beaming, lighting up at the sight of his brother being completely unharmed. “Hop, you-- I mean. Thank you, Hop.”, the champion spoke, allowing Raihan to gently remove the clear mask covering his mouth and nose.  
  
Raihan was silent, gently brushing the strands of hair that stuck in Leon's face back before he took up a spoon and lifted some of the mashed potatoes up to Leon's lips. Leon ate contently, a little embarrassed at being pampered like that, but happy that he had someone he could rely on when he was as weak as this. It's not like he couldn't move his arms, but anything that put a strain on his back or chest just hurt so much to do.  
  
Leon's brother seemed happy as well. “You don't have to thank me. In the end it was Victor who caught the thing. I just helped ward it off.”  
  
“Don't discredit what you did, that monster was utterly terrifying and if it wasn't for you _both,_ it would have destroyed everything.” The champion said with a smile, looking at Victor. “I'm only sorry that you have to wait so long for our battle now, it will take at least a week until I'm allowed to leave here.”  
  
Victor vigorously shook his head. “It's fine! Please don't put our battle above your own health. I will wait till the next season if I have to, so don't worry.”, he reassured, earning an encouraging nod from Raihan.  
  
“See, Leon? What did I tell you.”, the dragon trainer said in a teasing voice, stealing a spoonful of mashed potato for himself.  
  
Leon playfully sighed, but a smile revealed just how happy he was to have so many undestanding people around him.“Alright, you win. I will focus on recovery from now on.”  
  
Raihan nodded. “That a boy! I'll help you however I can.”


	2. Nasty Plot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some headcanons incoming in this chapter, please bear with me!

And recover Leon did. In just eight more days, the final match was back on, with the stadium repaired and Leon back on his feet and wearing his ten million pokedollar smile for the camera. He opened up with an apology for the interruption of the championship after which he announced that everything has been resolved.  
  
The chairman was arrested, the champion was back on his feet and Hammerlocke Gym was open again. Everything was back as it should be and Raihan was very happy to return despite the tons and tons of reporters that he had to explain the situation to. He told everyone the same thing: Leon was weak, he himself hadn't slept for three days and that's how they ended up like that. It wasn't a lie since Leon didn't confess his feelings to Raihan. It was just a person helping out his best friend, nothing more. And the dragon trainer was fine with that, he really was. He didn't want to push Leon past his comfort zone and just because Leon might not love Raihan back, it didn't invalidate the relationship they had, being best friends and rivals.  
  
Today – like with every match featuring Leon - Raihan made sure he was watching the match between Leon and Victor as up close and personal as he could without actually going onto the field himself. He stood in the tunnel that connected the dressing room with the arena and was mesmerized by the fight. It was really intense, seeing as both had mercilessly attacked each other with super effective attacks, using everything they had at their disposal to their advantage. Both were down to their last pokemon in mere minutes, with Leon sending out Charizard and Victor sending out Inteleon. Ironically enough, that was the pokemon that Leon gave to Victor at the start and now it was facing off against him in the finals.  
  
Raihan was absolutely ready for this spectacular finale, rooting for Leon despite the type advantage Victor had over Charizard.  
  
That's when he felt something rub against his leg, warm and fuzzy like a Skitty, so Raihan looked down to see what it was. It was a Pikachu rubbing at his leg, as if asking to be noticed over the roaring crowd and booming music. Raihan felt himself melt at the sight. “Are you lost little buddy?”, he asked, leaning down to pick it up and check if the trainer was somewhere nearby. As he picked it up though, he felt a jolt of static spark through his body, making him freeze instantly, paralyzed by it.  
  
“Pikachu, come back”, a gruff voice behind Raihan spoke, indicating a trainer approaching. The Pikachu gave a cute smile and returned to the ball. “Finally, I get to do what I wanted to ever since you took over the Hammerlocke Gym nine years ago. It took some careful preparation, but I actually pulled it off.”  
  
 _What was the man talking about?_

Suddenly it hit Raihan. This man was most likely the person who left all those comments under the picture of him and Leon. After all nobody else had threatened him or wished him to die yet, despite Raihan's many haters. This man simply let his Pikachu's ability paralyze him as he himself went for the hit, so he wouldn't be able to dodge or retaliate as he would have if the Pikachu had attacked him directly..  
  
“Quite the smart strategy, honestly...”, Raihan chuckled in spite of himself. He wasn't sure if the laughter was just a panic response or if he just _didn't mind dying_ . Nah, probably the former. He didn't hate himself that much yet.

He heard the man open his bag, then close it, assuming that he pulled out some sort of a weapon. And he was almost immediately proven right, feeling the knife's edge press at his neck. He could hear the grin of the man behind him despite being unable to see him.  
  
“I have waited so long for this perfect opportunity to finally kill you.”, the man practically purred out, the blade breaking the skin to draw some blood. “I thought about just going over to the hospital, but that would have been way too predictable. Luckily, I overheard some people say that you always watch Leon's fights from here. You know what the best thing about killing you here in the arena is?” - A rhetorical question, seeing as the man answered it himself - “With how loud the crowd is, nobody will hear you scream.”  
  
Raihan swallowed nervously, struggling to get his muscles to move despite the paralysis. But he was just a human, he was fully paralyzed unlike the pokemon that could still pull off an attack or even overcome paralysis. There was nothing he could do, except stall for time as he looked out onto the stadium where both pokemon had just lost their Dynamax forms, returning to their normal size. “Why are you doing this? Is it hate towards me, love for Leon, or something else entirely?”  
  
“You're right. I just simply hate your guts. That picture with you two was simply the last drop in the bucket. I won't allow the Champion to be with a man like yourself, he is too good to hang out with trash. You're pathetic and worthless and yet you act all high and mighty with that 'Great Raihan' bullshit. Get real.”- A pause, then the man chuckled once more. “Or don't, since you're about to die anyway.”  
  
Raihan smiled a little. Someone has figured it out, huh? He was hiding behind the facade he built up with his online presence and he knew that. He was at a loss for words, unable to come up with anything to stall the man further without enraging him more, so he simply kept his gaze fixated on Leon as he accepted his fate. He simply hoped that Leon wouldn't be the one to find his corpse laying around, that he would leave through the gate on the other side.  
  
A sharp pain spread in his left shoulder, followed by a slick sound of the knife being pulled out again. Raihan assumed that the man was getting bored with him being so quiet. Well, he can't always be a showman like Leon – he thought as a scream he tried to hold back finally tore from his lips. Another stab in his arm proved him right, this man didn't simply want to kill him. He wanted to make it absolutely miserable. Should he start talking again so the man would get annoyed and would simply end him? He didn't know anymore. His heartbeat was starting to sound louder than the rumble of the crowd cheering to Leon's signature theme, drowning out all the thoughts he had as his vision started blurring around the edges, the pain he felt numbing down as adrenaline rushed through his body. Time seemed to tick by much slower now and Raihan could feel his muscles convulsing, trying to flee – to fight – to scream – anything. But it was like he was trapped in his own body, losing control of it. Raihan felt the edge of the knife finally press against his throat, the man saying something that Raihan couldn't hear over his own thoughts.  
  
 _Sorry, Leon. Guess you gotta find a new rival. Knowing you though, you'll do great._   
  
“You're quite tough!”, Leon complimented, letting Charizard use Solar Beam on Inteleon, gambling on attacking Victor's pokemon instead of healing despite Charizard being down to a third of his health. His heart sank when he heard the young trainer call a command. He should have healed-  
  
“Inteleon, use Snipe Shot!”, Victor yelled and what happened next startled both the crowd and Leon.  
  
Inteleon turned to the tunnel that led to the dressing room and shot over there, a thin, highly pressured stream of water whizzing by Raihan's ear and knocking the man behind him down. Victor then called out to the staff that was about to terminate the battle and call the police.  
  
“Please, don't – well, do call the police! There is an injured person there and I am not talking about the one Inteleon attacked. Please tend to him!”  
  
The staff was confused as to what to do and they looked at Leon, who simply nodded at them. “I'll see that nothing else happens here, you go on ahead and check in the tunnel.”  
  
Who was the injured person then? Leon looked at Victor, but saw no signs that he was lying. The teen looked distressed and hopeful that the staff would save whoever was implied.

The referee spoke to someone through the mic on his headset and then nodded at the two battling trainers. “We got the situation under control, you two may continue the battle.”, he announced.  
  
But honestly, there wasn't much of a battle as Leon's mind was preoccupied with dark thoughts and his heart was heavy. His mind came up with only one answer for the identity of the injured person, but he tried to deny it.  
  


 _Raihan._  
  
The dragon trainer had promised to watch him as close as he possibly could, clearly excited for the match since he always liked to watch his battles. And the only place that was extremely close to the arena without him standing _in_ the arena was the tunnel. Come to think of it, Raihan had always conveniently greeted him in that tunnel as he headed to the dressing room after a match.. _damn it!_  
  
Leon swallowed loudly, his Charizard letting out a faint cry as it was defeated by Victor's Inteleon. He looked down and pulled his cap down, struggling not to cry. Raihan wasn't yet confirmed to be the injured person and even then, he wasn't proclaimed dead. He had to stay calm now, or else it would reflect negatively on the battle and on Victor's new title as champion.  
  
He put on his best smile as he threw his cap up in the air, acting like it was part of what he planned to do all along. Honestly, it was so hard to put up a show when his mind was screaming at him to run out of the arena and check up on his best friend.  
  
“Looks like my time as the Champ is over, but what a time it has been!”, he called out with a smile plastered on his face. Seems like following Rose for so long did have it's merits after all, he learned to be a good ~~liar~~ actor.  
  
As soon as he congratulated Victor, he wanted to hurry on and just see if Raihan was okay, but he was stopped by press who started barraging him with questions.  
  
“What happened that made you lose?”  
  
“Are your injuries still not healed?”  
  
“Was your loss Gym Leader Raihan's fault?”  
  
“Is the Hammerlocke Gym Leader holding you back from performing to your fullest?”  
  
“Please comment on your relationship with the Gym Leader of Hammerlocke!”  
  
Leon sighed, trying not to get too irritated. Raihan had already commented on their relationship, hasn't he? Then again...it didn't seem fair to say that they were just friends, after all...Raihan said he loved Leon and that he was ready to throw away everything for him. Leon hadn't answered him, but back then he was still the champion who had to maintain a perfect image, now he was just a regular pokemon trainer. What _did_ he feel for Raihan?  
  
Raihan who always laughed along with his jokes, who teased him ever so often, who smiled at him with a warmth of a thousand suns. He liked Raihan's smile, especially when he grinned with that cute sharp teeth of his. He liked those ice-blue eyes that were always fixated on him as they spoke. He liked the confident stride and the poses when he battled or took a selfie. And right now, Leon's heart was aching with worry because of Raihan.  
  
“Gym Leader Raihan is my best friend, we have been Gym Challengers thirteen years ago and to this day he is still a rival that I hold in a high regard.”, Leon said, gathering the thoughts that he just had and trying to express them in words. “When I was at the hospital, he made sure that I recover quickly, helping me with tasks that were too painful to perform or too dangerous to do alone. He hasn't slept or eaten properly until I recovered and was fine to walk on my own, so if anyone accuses Raihan of holding me back, you lot haven't seen what he has been through for me to be able to stand here before you. The only thing that made me lose was Victor's exceptional battling prowess, so don't discredit it as just me having a bad day. It was a very close and intense battle.”  
  
“Okay, but do you feel some sort of a romantic interest towards Gym Leader Raihan?”  
  
“That- I-”, Leon stuttered, but remembered that he had to hurry now and decided to simply blurt out his feelings to the press even before he could confess to Raihan in person. “I do. I love him, so I hope you don't mind me cutting this interview short to go and see if he is alright.”  
  
With that, Leon turned away, hurrying toward the tunnel where the attack happened, seeing police examine the place. There were blood splatters on the ground, getting smaller and smaller as Leon walked toward the dressing room. He saw staff members being interrogated by the police, but it seemed that nobody had seen the attack happen.  
  
Leon approached one of the staff members that currently wasn't speaking to the police and decided to inquire about what happened. His fears were about to be confirmed.  
  
“I-It was Gym Leader Raihan. He got carried here, completely paralyzed and bloodied up, we performed some basic first aid, but he had to be brought to the hospital.”  
  
Leon nodded and tried his best to keep calm and gather information despite wanting to simply run over to the hospital right away. “What about the culprit?”  
  
“It seems to be an avid fan of yours, seeing as he was wearing your merchandise all over. About thirty years old I reckon?”, the staff member said. “He was knocked out cold by Inteleon's attack and has been taken by the police. They secured the weapon too, which seems to be a chef's knife.”

Leon swallowed. A fan of his, huh? Did that have something to do with the rumors about their relationship that Raihan was attacked? Should he have not said anything to the press just now?  
  
He hoped he didn't make the situation worse by rushing to end the interview.  
  
He healed up his team at the Pokemon Center before he hurried to the hospital. He ran into the lobby and was immediately greeted by the receptionist. She didn't give him any small-talk or ask where he wanted to go, simply saying “He's in Room 213, that's on the second floor.”

Leon had never been more thankful to be as popular as he was, getting the directions quicker than he could even stop running. He simply spun on his heel and dashed up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, hurrying to the room where Raihan was supposedly admitted to. He saw that the dragon trainer was awake, but still didn't turn his head to look at Leon. His neck was bandaged up and Leon could clearly see the bandage reaching down to his shoulder.  
  
“Raihan?”, Leon asked cautiously, looking into those dejected blue eyes which finally met his.  
  
“Yo, Leon.”, the taller male offered. “Sorry I missed the finale of your battle. I did watch up until the gym staff rushed in to take me to the hospital though.”  
  
“Raihan, seriously...now's not the time. Why don't you take this seriously, you could have been killed!”  
  
Raihan hummed indifferently. “Yeah, I suppose that's true. I guess it still doesn't feel quite real that an internet troll almost managed to kill me.”  
  
“I'm sorry, what?”, Leon asked. Was his friend just trying to cheer him up with a joke? Should he be laughing?  
  
The taller of the two gave yet another hum. “Oh right. You were asleep as we had that conversation with Victor. You remember the picture of us cuddling in the hospital bed spreading like wildfire?” - Leon nodded - “Well, someone commented under it about fifty times that I should die and that Hammerlocke needs a new Gym Leader.”

“And you _didn't_ forward it to the police?!”  
  
“I did, just now.”, Raihan explained, continuing to speak before Leon could protest. “Look, your brother had suggested I do the same, but firstly I wasn't sure if that wasn't just some kid being angry and secondly, this guy has hidden his username before posting that.”  
  
“But still-”  
  
“He got me real good though. Sent out a cute Pikachu so I would drop my guard and had it paralyze me. He was a real sadist, I tell you.”, Raihan said with a look that was nothing like the man that Leon knew. He looked absolutely empty, almost as if he wasn't really there. “He told me how useless and weak I am and honestly, it was refreshing to hear it from someone else than myself for once.”  
  
“You're not--”  
  
“Yeah? Well how else do you explain me losing time and time again, being the last Gym Leader that people face, wasting my life on feeble attempts of gaining recognition, just to be struck down over and over. People don't come to me thinking 'I might fail here'. People come to me thinking that I am just the last obstacle in order to get to you. I couldn't beat you in a battle, not in a million years. What was I thinking when I proclaimed to be your rival? I bet people just laugh at me for still thinking that after losing to you ten times in a row.”, Raihan said, a sob shaking his form and he wasn't even able to wipe away the tears that started falling. “I still tried time and time again. Just to prove myself that what I do isn't a waste of time. And yet here I am, completely defeated. Defeated as a Gym leader, almost killed by some crazy person and too weak to protect you. I felt so helpless when I saw you unconscious in the hospital bed eight days ago. So helpless, as I saw your breathing give out many times just to be picked up by the machine. Helpless as you got the bad press because I got too eager. And even now I'm still helpless, trapped in my body until the paralysis wears off. Why _didn't_ I die? You deserve better than to be sitting here, listening to me whine. You should be out doing something that's actually worth your time.”

“Raihan..”, Leon said quietly, taken aback by how utterly broken his friend sounded. He realized that it wasn't the first time that his best friend saw himself as someone helpless, it wasn't the first time that Raihan thought that he wasn't worth anyone's time. It just was the first time that Raihan spelled it out for Leon, word for word. He should have paid better attention to the signs that Raihan gave off. Even as they were kids, Raihan had this habit of saying self-deprecating things in what Leon assumed to be a joke.  
  
 _'I'm just hopeless against you, Lee!'_

And now as they were adults, it was even more obvious. Raihan would often oversleep, say that he's too busy to go somewhere or drink way too much when they _did_ go out. Hell, even when Raihan saw him wake up at the hospital, he had broken down. And how did Leon react? By brushing off his worries and telling Raihan about his own instead. Sure, Raihan seemed to have calmed down then, but now Leon figured that the dragon trainer just _forced_ himself to act like he was fine for Leon's sake.  
  
The ex-champion felt a painful twinge in his heart as he realized how little support he was giving Raihan as he hid behind his work, oblivious to anything else that was happening. He always wanted to do what was best for all of Galar, but perhaps it was time to start caring more about his immediate surroundings.

He got closer to Raihan and gently wiped the taller male's tears away, since the man was unable to do so himself. “Rai. I'm sorry that I have only now noticed how much you are hurting. I know that it is hard for you to accept, but you aren't useless. You are the one that helped me most during my recovery, you were there for me both mentally and physically, encouraging me to get better, telling me how excited you were to see the final match.”, Leon said, gently stroking the dark hair just above the short buzz of the undercut. “Not just that, you were there for me for as long as I have known you. You are such a gentle person and you genuinely care about others..or at the very least about me.”  
  
“Well..the last part is true..”  
  
Leon smiled softly. It was still definitely Raihan, seeing as he gave witty remarks even despite crying so much. “So, let me care about you as well. You don't have to act strong around me, I already know that you are strong, so it's okay for you to cry on my shoulder. And just like you have supported me over the years, I think it's high time I start supporting you.”  
  
“I will just tire you out.”, Raihan said and gave Leon a shaky smile back, his lips quivering as he fought against crying even more. He lost that fight too, more tears dripping down his cheeks.  
  
Leon wiped them away, trying out a new angle. He felt like his words almost got through to Raihan, just a little more and he would get the man to open up to him. “Hey, I'm known for my stamina thanks to my workout routine! So don't worry and rely on me a little more, okay? I promise that I will always be there for you because I love you, Raihan. I love you for everything you are, so let's work together until you learn to love yourself too. ”  
  
Raihan smiled a little firmer this time, giving Leon a look of mock defiance. The ex-champion was never more happy to see that cocky look. “Can't I just love _you_ instead? You're so much easier to love.”  
  
“I would disagree. Plus, you already love me, so the only other person you can love without me getting jealous is yourself!”, the purple-haired male chuckled and leaned down, giving Raihan a small peck on his cheek.  
  
Raihan closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Leon's soft lips and the ticklicng sensation of Leon's stubble on his cheek, when something very urgent occurred to him.  
  
“Leon, hold up.”, he said, hoping that his voice was loud enough to be heard despite being so small and insecure.  
  
The purple-haired male pulled away and looked at Raihan insecurely. Did he do something wrong? Did he just take advantage of Raihan because he assumed that the man was fine with being kissed after his confession?  
  
Raihan smiled at the puppy-dog eyes that looked straight at him. “You didn't do anything wrong or anything, you can kiss me all you like, but...are you sure _you_ don't need any support right now?”  
  
“Huh? What do you mean?”, Leon cocked his head to the side in confusion, a few purple strands falling into his face. Leon carefully brushed them behind his ear so they would stay in place.  
  
 _Raihan secretly wished he could have done that for him._   
  
Instead, the dragon trainer hummed. “You're not upset about losing your title? I heard about it from the doctor. You know if you need anything, I'm there for you-”  
  
Leon laughed, interrupting Raihan mid-sentence. He just continued laughing like he had just heard the best joke ever, his beautiful voice making Raihan smile insecurely, a small blush spreading on his cheeks.  
  
“Hey, I'm serious here...”, he mumbled in embarrassment, hiding the best he could by simply looking away from Leon.  
  
“I know that you're serious, Raihan.”, The shorter male nodded and gave Raihan another peck on his cheek. “But to be honest, I don't even feel sad about losing the match with how relieved I am to not have lost you. And even if I were, I don't want you to think about anything else but your own well-being for now.”  
  
Raihan blushed even more, looking at Leon again. How could this man be so pure and kind? What did he do to deserve this man's love? “Leon, I have a selfish request.”

The purple-haired male leaned closer upon that, to hear him better. “What is it? I'll do whatever I can.”  
  
“Kiss me.”, the reply came without hesitation. Raihan just wanted something to serve as proof that this was indeed real, that he didn't die and that this wasn't just some dream he had thanks to the anesthesia.  
  
He wasn't prepared for the wake-up call like he thought he was. Leon wordlessly leaned forward and captured Raihan's lips in his own, making the taller male absolutely melt beneath him. Leon's lips were soft and smooth against Raihan's slightly chapped ones, moving deliberately and gently, as if to tell him that they had all the time in the world now, that they didn't have to rush the kiss. Leon put all his feelings into the kiss, wordlessly communicating that he was really here, that he wouldn't go anywhere either for as long as Raihan would have him. They parted after a few minutes, looking deeply into each other's eyes and smiling in a cheesy way.  
  
Raihan was the first who broke their silence. “God, I love you. Leon...what did I do to deserve you?”  
  
Leon chuckled and caressed the taller male's cheek, shaking his head. “You didn't _have_ to do anything. It was enough that you were simply being yourself. And yet you still did so much for me. I wouldn't be where I am without you.”  
  
“I doubt that to be honest. You have so many supporters, you would surely be the same Leon I know.”  
  
The purple-haired male didn't relent. “Well, where were those supporters when I hurt my ankle while training in the dojo as a kid?”  
  
“Well, I carried you home, so there was no reason for anyone else to do anything..”, Raihan said with a hum. “I'm sure your mum would have come pick you up if it wasn't for me though.”  
  
“Well, where were they when I was close to failing my test in middle school? Who sat down and studied with me?”, he pressed on.  
  
Raihan grumbled and reluctantly admitted that it was him. “I was the best in class, so it was my responsibility. You were too busy training every day after school and Sonia was too lazy and not even in our class.”  
  
“It was 'your responsibility'? You kind of start sounding like me.”, Leon teased and continued. “Well then, who was it that helped me find and catch a Charmander after I have swooned so much over having a Charizard like the Kanto Champion Red?”  
  
“It was your birthday and it was your biggest wish at the time. Besides, who _isn't_ a fan of Red? He isn't much older than us, so it was even easier to dream big when we were kids.”, the dragon trainer chuckled. Those were some nice memories. He clearly remembered them both receiving a scolding from their parents for crawling into a raid den despite their warnings not to do so. That was way before the time they knew what Dynamax even was.  
  
“It was only thanks to you and your Sliggoo that we could stand a chance.”, Leon laughed, trying to remember why Raihan suddenly had a Goomy instead of a Sliggoo when they were Gym Challengers.. Raihan's Sliggoo was at level 41 when they did that raid, so why didn't his rival use it to completely sweep the first three Gyms then?

“My _dad's_ Sliggoo”, Raihan corrected, helping Leon remember what happened.  
  
The dragon trainer had been so excited to help Leon fulfill his biggest birthday wish that he stole one of his father's pokemon while the man was asleep after a night shift. Thankfully Sliggoo and Raihan got along well from playing together so much, or else it would have turned ugly. He also clearly remembered himself not being allowed to talk to Leon outside of school as a punishment.  
  
Of course, the two of them circumvented that as well, staying at school longer and always taking group projects together until Raihan's father gave up and lifted the ban. He couldn't forbid his son from studying with Leon after all.  
  
Instead, his father simply gave in and gave Raihan a Trapinch to start off his own pokemon journey together with Leon, which both of them did as they decided to embark on their own Gym Challenge together as both friends and rivals the same year.

“Those were great times...I remember us both causing mischief, but you never got in trouble because your mother is way more relaxed than my dad.”, Raihan reminisced. He wondered if he would even be allowed to be a Gym Challenger if he hadn't decided to help Leon catch a Charmander or if he would have been forced to do research like his father. Well, he would never find out now.

  
“Ah, well...that's true.”, Leon said sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. He remembered Raihan being taken away quite a few times by his father. His father never yelled at Raihan when other people were around after all.  
  
The taller male chuckled. “What happened to the Vulpix you used in the raid by the way?”  
  
“I released it since it used to bite Charmander. It was jealous that I gave Charmander more attention, which I kind of understand now...but I was a kid then and just saw my favorite pokemon being hurt all the time.”, the ex-champ said. It was better off that way anyhow. He hadn't been a very good trainer to Vulpix, since he didn't yet understand the responsibilities of a trainer. When he got a desire to get a Charmander though, he studied diligently on how to care for it and what to be careful of. He just hoped Vulpix found a new, caring trainer or was still living in the wild happily. It didn't seem to be angry at him when they parted and it seemed to really care for Leon, so it was all good.  
  
“I see. Shame though..you could have been the new fire Gym Leader with both Charmander and Vulpix.”, Raihan joked, but it actually didn't sound so stupid when he said it out loud. It did manage to tear Leon out of his thoughts though.

Leon once again started laughing uncontrollably at that suggestion, clearly amused by it. “Hey, that's disrespectful towards Kabu! He has been a Gym Leader even before we started the Gym Challenge.”  
  
The dragon trainer hummed as he entertained the thought for a little while, then he shook his head. Leon was too gentle and kind to be a trainer for exclusively such a fierce type. Maybe a Fairy or Dragon type Leader? Then again, it would give Leon even more leverage to beat him, with both those types being his weakness. It was an interesting thought though.  
  
“Anyway, back to the topic of you always being there for me---”, Leon begun to talk again, but the taller male was quick to cut him off.

Raihan jumped up and grumbled in embarrassment. He wasn't used to this much praise, even if it _was_ nice to remember their past.. “Okay, okay, I get it. I don't think I can handle even more compliments...”

He trailed off, realizing something. He sat up! He did it without help and without struggling to do so! Excited by this new discovery, the taller of the two pulled his arms from under the blanket and looked at them, then looking down at his hands and trying to move them, which worked. His fingers were still useless though. As he tried to move his legs he realized that his delight was a little too premature, they wouldn't move at all..

“Ah, dammit.”, he whined in disappointment, not seeing the concerned look that Leon had on his face as all the bandages became visible. That was until he realized that the purple-haired male wasn't saying anything for quite a while. He turned his head to look at Leon and was about to ask what was wrong, but before he could get a sound out, Leon reached out and gently stroked over the edge of the bandage that went over his shoulder and arm, as if in a trance.  
  
“I can't believe a fan of mine could hurt someone I care about this deeply.”, the ex-champion hissed out, the look on his face being nothing short of poor agony and anger. Leon's fingers traced the edge of the bandage to where it went over Raihan's chest, his gaze following wherever his hand went before the golden eyes darted up to the bandage that wrapped around Raihan's neck, covering most of it up. “I always thought of my fans as a positive bunch who were kind and accepting of others. Especially of the only person I ever called my rival.”  
  
Raihan clumsily took Leon's hand between his own and looked into his eyes. “Hey, Champ. Every fan base has it's bad eggs bumbling about. Doesn't mean that all the people who like you are bad.”  
  
The shorter male sighed a little “Well, I'm not the 'Champ' any more, so I doubt there will be many people still following my activities.”

“To me, you will always be the Champ. Unless it's uncomfortable for you if I say that, of course...”, Raihan said as he slowly laid back down, pulling Leon's hand down with him. “And if people stop liking you just because you aren't the Champion anymore, they weren't real fans to begin with. You always know how to fire a crowd up, you battle with absolute style...damn, everything about you is just amazing.”  
  
“Aren't you just biased?”, Leon asked with an amused chuckle and shook his head. “You can call me champ. It doesn't sound condescending when you do it.”  
  
“Maybe I am biased, but that doesn't change that you're awesome.”, Raihan admitted with a small grin, yawning afterwards. “Man...I'm kind of tired..”  
  
“Then rest up, I'll see that nothing and no one disturbs your sleep.”, the purple-haired male said with a soft smile, curling the hand that Raihan held to take hold of one of Raihan's hands too.

“Y-You'll stay here?”

  
Leon nodded eagerly, there was no way he would go anywhere until Raihan was given the okay to go home. “Of course I will, what do you take me for?”  
  
“Then come here, I wanna cuddle~”, the taller male practically purred in excitement, to which Leon was quick to respond, crawling onto of the way too narrow bed and very carefully lowering himself onto Raihan, especially when it came to resting his head anywhere on Raihan's chest. He did manage to find a spot to lay down on without hurting the man, after which Raihan pulled the blanket over them both.  
  
This time the dragon trainer was the first to fall asleep and somehow it made Leon giddy to know that this time _he_ could protect Raihan, that this time he managed to make him relax instead of making him stay on his toes.


	3. Until I love Myself like You Love Me

Raihan had recovered remarkably fast, his cuts being healed in two weeks. He was already back at his arena and training for the upcoming Gym Challenge season despite it being months away. He also started posting updates on his social media regularly again, with many fans being worried about the bandage on his shoulder and the scars on his neck that were still visible in some pictures despite the dragon-type Gym Leader doing his darndest to try and edit them out somehow.  
  
Oh well, some people liked how 'tough' it made him look and they respected him for opening up the Hammerlocke Gym despite not being in a completely tip-top shape. Some people have asked in the comments about what Leon is doing right now and Raihan had to smile as he read those comments. After all, he found out in the worst way possible that Leon had officially proclaimed his love for Raihan to literally the entire world, seeing as the final battle, including the interview was broadcast live in every region.  
  
As soon as Raihan and Leon set a foot outside of the hospital, they were swarmed by both local and foreign reporters, asking them to comment on their relationship once more. It was bizarre that it was all that people seemed to care about despite there being a new champion to admire and all. Raihan's brain that was still all mushy from the painkillers provided a very eloquent answer.  
  
“Ye, we're datin'. What about it?”  
  
And for weeks after, _that_ was the title of every single article that featured them both. Fans started making jokes about it and soon _'Ye we datin' What about it'_ became the number one meme on Pokegram, with people applying it to pretty much every single possible celebrity couple on earth. Raihan had never felt both more proud and embarrassed at the same time.  
  
Well, as for what Leon was doing now...the dragon Leader couldn't help but sigh. It was like Leon simply couldn't enjoy _freedom._ He insisted that he had to clean up the mess left by Rose, that he had to fix everything that wasn't even his fault. And when Raihan insisted that there was a new champion that was responsible for this, Leon simply said: _He's a kid! I can't believe you want me to burden him with this._ Before he stormed off.  
  
Raihan couldn't even begin to describe how mad this had made him. Victor was fifteen now. When Leon started as a champion, he was ten and Rose didn't have any qualms about burdening him with pretty much anything.  
  
It was good that Leon didn't follow Rose's example, but it was so frustrating to see him dive head-first into work just when he had gained freedom. Couldn't he take a breather for once? And more importantly...did he not have time for just a simple text inbetween all this work, just to let Raihan know that he was alright?  
  
He was getting more and more worried as more days had passed, but Hop reassured him that Leon was doing fine and texting him progress of his work proudly. Well...why couldn't Leon spare one text his way then? Was he so embarrassed of having their relationship so out in the open that he couldn't maintain contact?

Or was he actually tired of Raihan after helping him recover and after seeing him break down so many times? He had warned Leon that it was tiresome to be with him, but Leon said he would manage...  
  
“Raihan, Sir, are you okay?”, one of his assistants said as Raihan simply sat there, phone in hand, staring into thin air.

“Of course I'm fine. I'm the Great Raihan after all.”, the Gym Leader offered, getting up and putting on his signature toothily grin. “Are you up for round two of training battles or do you have some questions about the new training regimen?”  
  
She shook her head. “I just came to tell you that all assistants have left since it's 6 pm and it's time to close up for today.”  
  
Raihan checked the clock on his Rotom Phone. “Oh man...you're right. Sorry for keeping you this late. Great work today, as always.”  
  
“Thank you, Sir. Please take it easy, you seem awfully out of it lately.”, she said before bowing and leaving the Gym.  
  
Raihan watched her back until she left and that was when his smile fell. He had to stop just waiting around. He needed certainty of what happened to make Leon shun him. It has been four days since they had last spoken with Raihan being the last person to ping a text to Leon. Might as well send another.  
  
He sat back down and pulled up the messenger app, typing many different messages, but deleting all of them with how desperate and lost they sounded. Last thing he wanted to do was to make Leon worry about him when he already had so much on his plate. So, instead of letting any emotions take control of the way he typed, he simply dropped a casual text.

_Yo Leon, how are you doing? Are you up for meeting up for dinner tomorrow evening?  
  
_ After he sent it, he simply stared at his screen and waited. He waited a few minutes and simply kept staring at the messenger app. He didn't even move when the lights in the Gym went out automatically to conserve energy after closing time, leaving Raihan in complete darkness save for the light of his phone screen. He was about to give up and go home when he saw Leon's status change to 'online'. His heart skipped a beat and he waited for a reply – a greeting, a rejection, an angry text – anything. But when Leon went offline after a notification appeared to indicate him seeing his text, Raihan's heart dropped again.  
  
He has been too pushy after all.... He had questioned Leon's drive for work when all the ex-champion ever did was help the region of Galar prosper. He was trying to take this sunshine away and keep him for himself when that was an absolutely selfish thing to do. When had he begun to be so greedy? Wasn't he the one telling himself that he was fine with simply supporting Leon wherever he could without questioning him?  
  
Perhaps that had been a lie all along and now that he had a taste of how it would feel to cuddle and kiss Leon this illusion broke and the dragon trainer realized just how _filthy_ he was. Raihan laughed bitterly at that realization, wandering the dark hallways to close the Gym for today. He just wanted to turn off his thoughts and curl up in bed for today, he didn't have enough power to maintain his cool facade today, so he ignored the other texts he had gotten from Sonia and Piers who were asking him if he wanted to hang out. It seemed that they had gathered quite a crowd and wanted him to join in spontaneously for whatever reason. He didn't reply to them, but he also didn't tap the notifications so it wouldn't seem like he was ignoring them on purpose. Kind of hypocritical of him to do that when he knew how much it hurt to be ignored, but that was just another reason why Raihan despised himself.

He dragged his feet to his apartment, glad that the streets in Hammerlocke were pretty empty at this hour. He didn't bother changing his clothes or doing anything else than just letting himself fall onto his bed and closing his eyes. All of his friends were used to him not replying for days on end sometimes, so it shouldn't be a problem to just set his phone to silent and go to sleep. It was still only 7 pm, but Raihan knew that his thoughts were going to eat him alive if he stayed awake for longer, so he simply curled up on himself as he drifted off to sleep.  
  


* * *

  
  
He had awoken to a loud bang downstairs, the door to his house sounding like it hat just been blown open and Raihan immediately reached for his trusty pokemon's ball as he heard footsteps ascending the stairs. Was his house really being broken into when all he wanted to do was sleep and escape reality? Was he really that unlucky to have someone try and kill him inside his own house now after barely surviving the first attack at the gym?  
  
He held tight onto Duraludon's ball, his eyes trained on his bedroom door. It seemed that the intruder hesitated to enter for whatever reason – could they tell that Raihan was awake or were they preparing something?  
  
The door finally swung open and Raihan was about to throw his pokeball, when he halted mid-motion upon realizing just who it was that stood there. Beautiful wine-red tailcoat, white dress shirt neatly tucked into beige jodhpurs, those beautiful purple hair neatly pulled into a ponytail and the golden eyes blown wide with worry.  
  
“Leon?”, he asked incredulously. After four days of silence Leon simply...stands here, in his bedroom? He must be dreaming, especially with that beautiful getup it was like he was looking at a prince from a fairytale.  
  
Leon wordlessly approached the taller male and pulled him up by his jacket, hugging him close. He finally spoke up once he had Raihan in his arms. “I was so worried...I was so worried that I caused you to do something rash-”  
  
“What are you talking about?”, the dragon trainer asked in confusion, hugging Leon back as if to confirm that he was really here.

Leon started shaking, holding Raihan closer, which was almost enough to hurt the taller male due to his shoulder still needing some time to heal, but Raihan didn't mind, allowing it and listening intently to what his boyfriend had to say. “I tried calling you about fifty times after I got off work, but you didn't pick up and Sonia and Piers were waiting for me to get you and-”  
  
“What are you talking about?”, the raven-haired male hummed, whistling to wake his Rotom up to come and show him the phone screen. He looked at it in awe, confirming what Leon had said. “Oh wow...I really do have 47 missed calls from you.” Somehow it made him happy to know that Leon tried to reach him so frantically, even though a part of him felt bad for making him worry. Then it all clicked into place. “Hold up...did you think I killed myself because you didn't reply to me?”  
  
“I haven't texted you for four days, Raihan...who knows what could have happened...especially after you mentioned you wouldn't have minded dying to that attack, that you think I deserved better- I thought I had lost you for good then, just because I got too distracted to text you back-”, Leon's sentences broke off and he hiccuped, on the verge of tears.

Raihan felt bad for saying that, even though it wasn't intentional, he had hurt Leon again. “I'm sorry Leon. Sorry that I made you think that. I promise I would never commit suicide because I know how much it would hurt you.”  
  
“Dummy.”, Leon sobbed, hiding his face in the crook of Raihan's neck, inhaling his scent to try and calm down. “You should live for yourself and not for me.”  
  
“It's hard to live for someone you don't care about.”, the raven-haired male admitted with a heavy heart, gently reaching out to turn Leon's face back to look at him. “So until I learn to care about myself, won't you be my reason?”

Leon smiled softly. He promised that he would teach Raihan to love himself as much as he loved him. He decided to say exactly that.“I kinda already promised you that, so I can't go back on my word now.”  
  
“You never broke your promises, even though you are an airhead sometimes.”, the taller male teased and chuckled a little. “So, what made you call me so many times, Champ?”

“Wait-”, Leon looked at him incredulously. “You don't know?? Do you know what date today is?”

  
Raihan was about to call for his Rotom again, but Leon stopped him, slumping all his weight onto the dragon Gym Leader in defeat, making them both fall back onto the bed with Leon resting on Raihan's chest again. “I can't believe _you_ just called me air-headed. But, the day is technically not over yet, so...!”, he jumped up again, straddling Raihan's lap as he looked down on his boyfriend. “Happy birthday, Rai!”

Raihan gasped. Oh.. He had completely forgotten his birthday because he hadn't really celebrated it after he became Gym Leader, responsibilities piling up for both him and his friends and eventually it was just a text from his father congratulating him every year. “I completely forgot.”, he admitted.  
  
“I noticed...”, Leon let out a shaky exhale. “I had a whole surprise party planned for you, you know.”  
  
Raihan smiled sheepishly and blushed a little. “Sorry...I really wasn't in the mood to party tonight”

“...Because of me-”, Leon offered, but Raihan shook his head.

“Don't blame yourself for my messed up mind telling me things that aren't true.”, he cut his boyfriend off and gave him a patient smile. The last thing he wanted was for Leon to feel guilty about something he had no control over.

Leon hummed and looked down at Raihan. “I will try not to. But back to the issue at hand...we have just one more hour left until your birthday is over, you haven't celebrated and I left my gift for you with Sonia since I ran off as quickly as I could to go look for you..”  
  
“Sorry for that...”, Raihan repeated, sitting up to meet Leon's eyes. “Since I was about to sleep through the night anyway, why don't we just cuddle on the couch and watch a movie or something...it doesn't have to be anything grand, I'm just happy to have you here.”

The shorter male hasn't been expecting that, but if that was really what Raihan wanted, then he wasn't about to say no. He nodded and agreed to that plan. “Sure, but I'd suggest you get into some more comfy clothes than your Gym uniform first.”  
  
“How about you then? Your clothes are definitely very pleasing to the eye, but they're also very tight, aren't they?”, the taller male said, making a point by tracing the outline of Leon's silhouette, running his hand over the rib cage and down the ex-champion's slim waist that was perfectly hugged by the fabric of the tailcoat that was tailored specifically for Leon. “You can borrow some of my stuff if you want.”  
  
Leon's cheeks turned a pink color as he felt a tingle on his skin wherever Raihan's hand just touched and they became an even darker hue of red when the taller male offered to wear his clothes for the evening. “Are you sure? If it's not too much hassle, I'd like that very much.”  
  
Raihan put his forearms under Leon's bottom and crossed them to be able to hoist the purple-haired male up and hold him up in the air as he got up. He gave Leon a small peck on the cheek before he finally set the man down and turned to rummage in his wardrobe for casual clothes. “You can have these shorts with this shirt, they should fit you best out of everything I own.”  
  
“Right, you do wear quite baggy clothes most of the time..”, Leon nodded and took the shirt with a cute Growlithe design on it, examining it. It was certainly not something he expected Raihan to have, but he liked the thought of Raihan in it.  
  
“You don't like it? Should I look for something else?”, Raihan asked as he took off his bandanna and pulled the hair tie out of his hair, letting it fall freely, framing his face in such a beautiful way that it made Leon's breath catch in his throat.  
  
“N-No, it's fine! I just never saw you wearing your casual clothes is all!”, the shorter male squeaked, turning away to hide his blush as Raihan took off his sweater and started unbuttoning his Gym uniform shirt.

Leon had never understood why Raihan always hid under baggy clothes. His body was muscular and he had quite broad shoulders. Then again, perhaps Raihan didn't care about showing off what he had as much as Leon did. But that also wasn't really necessary in his line of work while Leon always had to look his best as a champion and that 'dress to impress' mentality pretty much stuck with him until this day.

He began undressing as well, pulling off his coat and shirt in one go before he put on the shirt that Raihan gave him. He then took off his pants, blushing a little at the burning gaze he felt on his back all this time. He wasn't ashamed of his body, he kept it in good shape even after he lost his title as Champion, but being watched so intently by someone he really loved was something different altogether. He quickly put on the shorts that were barely visible due to how long the shirt was and as a final touch, he pulled out his own hair tie as well, just to re-tie his hair in a messy bun so it wouldn't get in the way all the time when he tilted his head.

“Leon, it's unfair how beautiful you are.”, Raihan said, pressing a small kiss to the nape of his neck.

Before Leon could even react with more than a small shudder, the taller male scooped him up in his arms just like he did to carry him to the hospital from Charizard's back, carrying him downstairs. He noticed the door still standing open and hurried to close it and lock it again, setting Leon down to do so, but keeping an arm around his waist possessively. He soon picked him back up and carried him to the living room where he sat down on the couch and let Leon nestle in his lap.  
  
Raihan lazily draped an arm around Leon's shoulders and pulled him closer, smiling down at him. “Anything specific you'd like to watch?”  
  
“You wanted to watch a movie, so we can watch whatever you want. Don't forget it's still your birthday, so we'll do whatever makes you happy!”, Leon giggled, cuddling up to Raihan's warm body as he looked at the screen.  
  
Raihan mindlessly zapped through the channels until there was something that resembled a movie. Some sort of a Rom-com, which usually wasn't something Raihan would watch, but he supposed it would do. His mind wasn't really focused on the movie anyway, not with how close Leon was and with how he seemed to press up more and more against him. It was really hard to focus on anything else with the hottest bachelor of Galar shifting around in his lap.  
  
And for Leon it wasn't much different, he wasn't even really looking at the screen, but rather examining Raihan's features. His beautiful dark hair that he rarely saw because of the bandanna and the hair tie holding it back, his strong jawline and his neck that was mostly hidden with the shirt collar and hoodie. The TV light flickered, allowing Leon to have a closer look at Raihan's neck, just to see a long scar running across it from where the man had almost sliced through.  
  
Something twisted within Leon as he saw this – anger, jealousy, possessiveness – whatever it was it made him move on autopilot as he leaned up and bit down where the scar was, drawing a surprised yelp from Raihan. Still it didn't make Leon stop, but rather spurred him on as he pressed his lips around where he had just bitten, sucking on the spot to leave a dark red hickey there.  
  
“Leon, what came over you?”, the taller male asked, panting a little due to how intense it felt.

Leon licked over the hickey almost apologetically, looking up at Raihan with a dark red blush. “I...I don't really know...but when I saw that scar on your neck I thought I wanted to overwrite it with something of my own..”  
  
Raihan let out a low growl at how much it turned him on to hear Leon be so possessive of him. “Do you have any idea how hot that was?”  
  
“W-Was it?”, Leon asked innocently, looking away to the side. He was worried he had done something wrong with how Raihan trembled.  
  
Raihan chuckled and put a palm on the small of Leon's back, pulling him closer while the other hand took a hold of Leon's hair. He bared his teeth as his lips twisted into a small smirk, the movie long forgotten as he looked deeply into Leon's golden eyes. “How about I show you just how hot it is?”  
  
Leon swallowed, but nodded slowly. Raihan's teeth were so much sharper than his own and he couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to have them bite down on his neck. He was about to find out. “Show me, Rai.”  
  
The taller male was never quicker to oblige for Leon, eagerly sinking his teeth into the side of his neck, matching the placement of Leon's hickey on his own neck. He miscalculated the pressure a little, a droplet of blood making its way onto Raihan's tongue as Leon let out a groan and shifted in his lap. Raihan was quick to mimic Leon's ministrations, sucking hard on the spot he just bit before lapping away the blood that thankfully stopped coming out of the bite mark. The hand that rested on Leon's back slid down, giving a small squeeze to his ass.

“H-Hey, I didn't do _that!_ ”, Leon protested halfheartedly, letting out a soft sigh as Raihan gave it one more squeeze.  
  
Raihan chuckled and leaned in to whisper into Leon's ear. “But I didn't tell you you _couldn't_ do that. Unless you're not in the mood? Then tell me and I will back off.”  
  
“No, no! Don't stop.”, Leon shuddered at Raihan's hot breath tickling his ear and shifted in his lap again to straddle Raihan, allowing him more freedom of movement. “It's just that I never done things like that before.”  
  
“Never? And yet you were the one to start us off, huh? You really have the upper hand in everything, Champ.”, Raihan said with a teasing grin on his lips, biting down gently on Leon's earlobe, which rewarded him with a soft moan. He moved the hand that was still in Leon's hair, gaining a better hold of it before gently pulling on it to make Leon look up at him.  
  
As soon as their gazes met, Raihan pressed a hot, needy and sloppy kiss onto Leon's lips, as if to convey just how much of a mess he was in that moment. With how eagerly Leon responded, he didn't seem to fare any better. Leon's own hands came to tangle in Raihan's hair, desperately trying to pull him closer as if mere skin-on-skin contact was not enough anymore and honestly, Raihan felt the same way. He daringly licked across Leon's lower lip before teasing it between his teeth – careful not to injure Leon this time. As soon as Leon parted his lips to let out a keen mewl, Raihan used that moment to push is tongue between those parted lips, rubbing it against Leon's own and challenging the shorter male to do the same.  
  
As always, Leon was a quick learner, reciprocating the movement with his own tongue, even being so daring as to try and push past Raihan's tongue into the taller male's mouth. Leon's hands weren't holding still either, one hand grabbing a fistful of the black hair while the other left teasing touches, stroking down the side of Raihan's face, down the other's neck before coming to a halt on one of his pecs.

Raihan hissed a little into the kiss. For someone who claimed to have no experience, Leon seemed to be awfully good at making him absolutely lose his mind. Of course, he wasn't accusing his boyfriend of anything, he just knew that's how naturally good Leon was at everything he did. Raihan broke off the kiss and looked up at Leon hungrily.  
  
“We're moving to the bedroom”, he announced, supporting Leon as he stood up, his own legs shaking a little for a second due to arousal, but he wasn't about to set Leon down. He committed to carrying Leon everywhere, so with renewed motivation he steadied his legs, carrying the purple-haired male up the stairs, all the while peppering little kisses onto his throat. Leon let out soft mewls at the attention he was getting as they stumbled through the bedroom door.  
  
Raihan kicked the door shut with the heel of his foot, gently lowering Leon onto his bed and climbing on top of him. “Are you sure you want this?”, he asked.  
  
Even though his own body was burning up with desire after having dreamed about it for so long, after having a crush on Leon for the longest time – he needed to make sure that it was really okay.  
  
“Raihan, _please._ Don't go slow on me now.”, Leon begged, cupping Raihan's face and pulling him down for another kiss. He then whispered against the taller male's lips “Please...I'll tell you if I don't want something, I promise.”  
  
That face that Leon made, looking up at him like he couldn't even _live_ without Raihan's proximity anymore, it made Raihan's heart skip a beat and his actions become more driven my pure instinct than anything else.  
  
He gripped at the edge of the shirt Leon was wearing, pulling it up and over the ex-champion's head, revealing his toned muscles and the slim waist that Raihan loved holding onto way too much. He immediately dove down, kissing, licking and biting the freshly exposed skin. He was careful not to break the skin again, but he made sure to leave lasting marks, as if to prove that Leon was indeed _his._ One of his hands moved to touch Leon's chest, feel those defined pecs under his touch after he had been teased by them under that way too tight shirt of his time and time again. His teeth have meanwhile latched onto the junction between Leon's neck and shoulder, leaving another mark there before he licked up a stripe back to Leon's earlobe.  
  
Leon was a trembling mess by then, trying to hold back his moans by covering up his mouth with his hand, but Raihan would have none of it. “Don't hide from me, I want to hear you.”, he whispered into Leon's ear, grabbing a hold of Leon's wrist and moving it to rest beside Leon's head.  
  
“N-Ngh...No fair...”, the shorter male whined, looking up at Raihan with half-lidded eyes. “ _You're_ still hiding.”  
  
Raihan was confused for a second, but Leon helped him understand by giving his shirt a small tug. The dragon trainer chuckled darkly, leaning back to sit up on his heels so Leon had a perfect view of his torso as he pulled off his own shirt. And it was Leon's turn to swallow. He knew that Raihan was fit because of his selfies at the gym and because of how his frame looked with just the Gym uniform on, but _damn._ He wasn't expecting Raihan to be this sexy. In a trance, Leon reached out to touch Raihan's bare chest, almost salivating at the view as his cock gave an interested twitch, more blood rushing south and making Leon's head spin. He knew he couldn't utter anything eloquent in this state, but his lips moved anyway.  
  
“...Fuck.”

Raihan gave Leon another one of his grins. It felt so good to be admired by the person that he had the biggest crush on for years. “That's the idea, love. But let's not rush it so you can fully enjoy it.”

He purred that out, kissing Leon again as he pressed their bodies as flush together as he could, moving a leg between Leon's thighs to prevent him from closing his thighs like he had been trying to do. Leon seemed to take this as an invitation to get bolder, gently biting the tip of Raihan's tongue to draw a surprised grunt from the Gym Leader. Leon was going to be the death of him one day, he just knew it.  
  
The taller male broke off the kiss and went back to biting Leon's chest, as if just picking up where he left off. His hand was also back, pinching and twisting one of Leon's nipples-

“Rai~~!”, Leon cried out, throwing his head back and grabbing onto Raihan's hair again.  
  
Raihan repeated the motion, which earned him another high-pitched moan before he upped the ante. His lips moved to the other bud, leaving an open-mouthed kiss on it before he carefully bit down. Leon came undone, arching his back to get more of the sensation. This action also caused his hips to shift, his erection brushing against Raihan's leg. Spurred on by the pleasant sensation rushing through his body, Leon rocked his hips again, grinding against the taller male's leg.

“Rai... aah~!”, Leon seemed to have forgotten every other word out there besides the Gym Leader's name as his body convulsed from the stimulation. “Raihaaan~”

“Yes, Leon?”, the taller male purred, looking up at his boyfriend. God, he wished he hadn't, that face was absolutely sinful to look at. Leon's eyes had been darkened by lust, now looking like liquid gold as he looked down at Raihan, his mouth was hanging open, a trail of saliva escaping from the corner of Leon's mouth as he moaned without holding back. The bun that held his beautiful hair together couldn't handle Leon's shifting around and the hair spilled around Leon onto the sheets. The view was absolutely out of this world. Still, Raihan swallowed the moan that was about to escape his throat at the sight, wanting to debauch Leon even more. He leaned in again to whisper into his ear. “You want something? Tell me~”  
  
Leon mumbled something incoherent, which Raihan could try and guess, but he wanted Leon to say it himself, so he spurred the other man on by pushing his thigh against Leon's erect member. “I didn't quite get that~”, he purred out.  
  
“Fuck me, Rai!”, Leon all but screamed out, pulling on Raihan's hair so that the dragon trainer could see how desperate Leon was. “Please, I _need_ you.”

How could Raihan say no to that face? He simply nodded, not trusting his voice when Leon had him completely under his spell. He grabbed the hem of Leon's shorts, pulling them along with his boxer briefs in one swift motion, after which Leon tried to close his thighs again.  
  
“Ah-ah. What did we say about hiding from each other?”, Raihan reprimanded, making Leon bite his lip in embarrassment, but still spread his thighs wider again, giving Raihan a good view of his erect member. “Good boy.”, Raihan praised, moving to stand on his knees between Leon's thighs before he pulled off his own shorts and underwear. Leon couldn't help staring directly between Raihan's legs where his own member stood proudly.

“Like what you see?”, Raihan teased, not expecting Leon to nod right away – he really was a man full of surprises.  
  
Before he could get embarrassed by Leon's honesty, he reached over to the bedside drawer where he kept the lube. As he was reaching over Leon, the shorter male got more daring and bit down on Raihan's chest, making the raven-haired trainer groan. He should never underestimate how quickly Leon was learning. And even after Raihan grabbed the lube, Leon hadn't let go, sucking another dark hickey onto his chest before finally letting go and giving the taller male a playful grin.

Raihan swallowed again. Every look that Leon gave him was driving him insane, riling him up more and more until he was close to bursting. Every time the Gym Leader looked at his lover, he thought that he was simply to good to be true.

_This man was an absolute work of art._

And like with a work of art, Raihan didn't look away from Leon as he had popped the cap of the bottle open and poured a generous amount of lube onto his fingers. He trailed his hand down, leaving a slick stripe down Leon's abdomen before finally dipping his hand between Leon's thighs, circling a finger around the rim of his hole to loosen him up a little. Leon shuddered and whined as the finger teased his hole but never quite slipped in.  
  
“Rai!~”, he gave a frustrated whine, moving his hips a little to try and hurry this along.  
  
Raihan shushed him with a gentle kiss. “As much as I'd love to move this along, I don't want to hurt you. So please bear with me, love.”

He distracted Leon with small kisses along his jawline and neck, not minding the stubble scratching him a little as the purple-haired male moved his head. When he was sure that Leon was relaxed enough, he pushed a finger inside him, continuing to distract him otherwise. He left a trail of kisses down his torso as he moved the finger around in a circular motion to make room for more. His lips finally reached the base of Leon's member and he kissed along the shaft, making Leon moan wantonly again. Deciding that this was the perfect distraction, Raihan pushed a second finger in, to which Leon hissed in discomfort and tightened around him, but was quick to relax again when Raihan licked a long stripe along his member, lapping up the precum that gathered on the tip.

He scissored Leon open while also making sure to try out different angles to see what Leon liked the most. He took the tip of Leon's member into his mouth, mindful of his sharp teeth as he took in as much as he could without gagging, to which Leon screamed out something that sounded a lot like his name, but honestly anything would have had the same effect on Raihan. He groaned around the member, making Leon let out another delightful moan in response. The taller male continued bobbing his head up and down as he pushed in a third finger and angled his fingers a little differently and – bingo – there was that delightful scream again. He continued moving the three fingers in and out until Leon could take them without resistance, his hole throbbing around them.  
  
“Rai~!”, Leon desperately called out, hoping that Raihan would get the message even without him voicing it.  
  
Thankfully, the Gym Leader did, letting go of Leon's member with an audible pop as it slipped out from between his lips. He had also withdrawn his fingers to open the lube bottle once again, pouring a generous amount onto his hand before slathering himself up. He hissed at the contact with his neglected erection, which made Leon look at him, just to realize what Raihan was doing. Leon promptly shut his eyes again as if it was something he wasn't allowed to see.  
  
“Leon, look at me.”, Raihan said softly as he lifted Leon's thighs up and hoisted them onto his shoulders. When Leon shook his head, the taller male couldn't help but smile at how adorable that was. “I really want to look into your eyes though...this is a special moment for us both.”

Leon opened his eyes at last “Rai, y-you also never-- ah!”, the ex-champion didn't get to finish the question before he felt the burn of the stretch as Raihan slowly pushed into him. It wasn't painful, but he was definitely thicker than the three fingers, so it left Leon breathless as he tried to adjust.

Luckily, Raihan made pauses whenever he felt like the shorter male could be in pain, which was more often than the stretch actually becoming uncomfortable for Leon. Both men panted and groaned and only when Raihan was fully in could he reply to Leon's question.  
  
“No, Leon. You're my first too.”, he said softly, giving his lover time to adjust to his size as he peppered his face with kisses. He wasn't sure if the other male had heard him, given the lack of the response, but they had all the time to talk about it in detail later, right now their bodies craved release and Raihan was happy to provide whenever he saw that his lover was ready.  
  
Only when Leon gave him the okay by nodding his head did Raihan start moving. He went with slow, shallow thrusts at first, watching Leon's face intently as he did. When he saw that Leon wasn't uncomfortable he dared to pull out further and thrust deeper into him, making Leon moan softly, encouraging Raihan to grow bolder. The taller male grabbed Leon by the hips as he went at a faster rhythm, rocking his hips in and out, surprised to find that Leon was meeting his thrusts the best he could, eager to take all of him in.  
  
Those golden eyes were still trained on Raihan's icy blue ones, even though Leon was struggling to keep them open when all he wanted to do was to completely lose himself in the blissful sensation. A few thrusts later Raihan hit something inside of him, sending a jolt of electricity through Leon, tearing a scream from his throat again.  
  
“Fuck, Leon...”, the Gym Leader moaned at the scream, the sound going straight to his groin. If Leon kept making such noises, he knew he wouldn't last much longer.  
  
Raihan made an effort to strike that same spot every time he went in, rendering Leon into a moaning, screaming mess. The room filled with of obscene sounds between Leon screaming, Raihan moaning and their skin slapping against each other as Raihan gave it all he got. He saw more precum drip down onto Leon's own abdomen due to how he was almost folded in half in this position and he took that as a sign that Leon was very close. He moved one hand from Leon's hip to stroke his weeping member, jerking it in the same rhythm as his thrusts, his palm quickly moving up and down the shaft.  
  
Leon tried to warn him before he came, but with how Raihan relentlessly thrust into him he couldn't form any coherent thoughts. “Ra~ai! I c-can't!”, was all he could manage before he came in thick ropes all over his own chest, some of the cum landing on his chin. He clenched down on Raihan upon his release and before the taller male could pull out, he came, filling Leon up.  
  
He blushed a deep red and pulled out, gently putting Leon's legs back into the bed before looking up to meet Leon's eyes to see if he was mad at him for not pulling out in time, but all he saw was a blissful smile as Leon came down from his post-climax high.

“Rai, you looked worried about something...”, Leon purred, patting the spot next to him for Raihan to lay down. Had he done something that made Raihan uncomfortable?

The taller male did lay down, but his worried look didn't fade and he wasn't sure how to put it. “S-Sorry for y'know...coming in you.”, he finally managed.

He mumbled the last part, but luckily Leon didn't make him repeat himself. Instead, he just gave Raihan his usual warm smile, albeit with a shy blush adorning his cheeks. “Don't worry about it. I'm not a girl so you won't get me knocked up. And since it's also your first time it's safe to say we're both clean.”

Raihan nodded and got up to get his towel from the dresser nearby, gently wiping Leon's body down with it. He still felt like it was somehow socially unacceptable, but if his boyfriend was fine with it, he wasn't about to argue and ruin this special moment. “So...I hope it was good?”  
  
“Raihan, did you even hear me? I'm pretty sure the whole town knows how good it felt.”, Leon joked, glad that it seemed to make Raihan finally smile too.  
  
Everyone saw Raihan as this fierce, cocky and ruthless trainer, but in private the Gym Leader was the most tender and caring person Leon knew. He stretched out his arms to Raihan once the Gym leader was done cleaning him and luckily the taller male seemed to wordlessly understand, crawling back into the bed and cuddling up to Leon before he covered the two of them up with the blanket.

If Raihan could, he would stop time right here, so Leon would forever stay in his arms, both of them happy and tired and without a care in the world. Raihan looked at Leon, smiling softly as the purple-haired male looked like he wanted to say something.

“I wanted to tell you that over dinner today but seeing as there was a change of plans, I'll tell you now.”, the shorter male said, as if Raihan's smile was the only catalyst that Leon needed to start talking.

“What is it?”, Raihan asked, stroking Leon's hair and playing with the strands as he listened to his boyfriend talk.

“I was kind of picked by the people to be the new Chairman now that Rose is gone. But I don't intend on pursuing the immediate success of Galar like he did.”, the ex-champion paused, enjoying the feeling in his hair. “Instead, I will work step by step and gradually work towards Galar's well-being. It will be hard, but-”  
  
“I'll be there to support you every step of the way, Mr. CEO.”, Raihan said with a smile and it seemed to be everything that Leon needed to hear to calm down again. As Raihan saw his boyfriend relax, his resolve was strengthened - he wanted to be there for Leon in any way he needed.  
  
“Thank you, Raihan.”, Leon said with a smile, leaning closer to kiss his boyfriend softly. “I love you so much.”

Raihan halted his movements in Leon's hair to return the kiss. “I love you too, Leon.”


End file.
